Reflections of an Artist

Mian Situ Demo: Finished Portrait

      In my prvious blog post I wrote about the Mian Situ demonstration. This is the final chapter and Mian completes the portrait.

      Mian Situ is one of only a few artists who achieve master status when they are alive. I have admired his work at the Masters of the American West Exhibition at the Autry Museum and at the Gold Medal Show for the California Art Club so I was very fortunate to be able to attend a portrait demo by Mian last weekend through the CAC.

Portraits True Colors

      The portrait above is after the first twenty minute pose and shows the true colors of the painting. Mian has begun to block in the flesh tones and applied the bright highlight. On the shadows of the face and neck he used a mixture of sap green and burnt umber.

Mian Situ Continues After the Break

       Mian continued to apply the colors to the face and then began to work in the details of the eyes and mouth. Above he is creating the shadows around the eyes. Even with only forty minutes to paint he managed to achieve a remarkable level of detail.

Portrait after Second Break

      After the second break the portrait is a wonderful likeness with interesting shapes, varied brushstrokes and lovely colors. There was only another 20 minutes to paint and Mian would work furiously to complete the portrait.

The Final Twenty Minutes

      Mian applied more paint to the hair and used his fingers to smear the paint forming wisps that extended onto the background.

Using a Palette Knife

       With a palette knife, Mian applied the background forming interesting shapes that hinted at the wallpaper. He carved into the hair color with the neutral colors while allowing the background to be the positive space.

      With fine brushes Mian worked on the details of the face. He captured the subtle nuances of the mouth and eyes. The portrait was nearly complete.

Final Portrait by Mian Situ

      Thank you to Mian Situ and the California Art Club for making this event a once in a lifetime experience.